Lord Roger Maltenham
In Biggles Hits the Trail, Lord Roger Maltenham was the son of the Earl of Maltenham, an old friend of Biggles' uncle Richard Bigglesworth, more commonly known as Dickpa. While a medical student, Roger had discovered and become addicted to narcotic drugs. To wean himself of it, he approached Dickpa asking if he might accompany him on his travels and so take him beyond temptation. It would mean abandoning his medical career but as his father had recently died and had left him a large sum of money, that did not seem to matter. Dickpa agreed and Roger (also known as Malty) accompanied him on an expedition to Western China where they heard rumours about a strange blue mountain with mysterious properties on the border with Tibet. They attempted to explore this mountain but met with hostile resistance from unknown individuals who appeared to be the guardians of the mountain's secret. They were almost killed several times while in Tibet, and attempts on their lives continued even after they had made their way to India and then onto a ship bound for England. After reaching home, Malty stayed with Dickpa at Brendenhall Manor where they made plans to return to China. Very soon, however, they found that the mysterious forces who had pursued them from Tibet had followed them to England and had laid siege to the house. Malty managed to sneak out of the house to send an S.O.S. delivered via the B.B.C. which soon brought Biggles, Algy and Ginger down. When Dickpa wanted Biggles to join him in an expedition to Tibet to get to the truth of the mystery, Malty, who was finacially well off, offered to finance the operation, including the purchase of an amphibian aircraft. If, Dickpa suspected, the mountain contained vast deposits of radium, here was a chance for Malty to do something useful with his life. As he told the rest, his father never had a high opinion of him, and had always wanted him to do something big. In Tibet, Malty's medical training proved useful. The party had picked up an ally, Angus McAllister, who had been a prisoner of the Chungs, the mysterious race who were the guardians of the mountain. Angus was a valuable source of local knowledge but he had been injected with a drug which would cause him to die if he did not get a fresh dose eacy day. Malty believed the drug to be a derivative of opium and was soon able to prove this by analysing a blood sample from Angus. Thereafter, he successfully developed an antidote to purge the Chung drug from his system. Later, Malty was called upon to treat the wounds of Prince Sing Hi, the son of the Chung leader, whom Biggles was holding as a hostage after injuring him in a battle. On their return to England, Malty was responsible for arranging the analysis and disposal of the rock samples which Biggles had collected. Although a large quantity of radium was found, it could not be properly valued as the metal had never existed in such abundance before. Malty therefore decided to donate the radium to the radium institute and various hospitals around the country. As compensation to Biggles and his friends, Malty signed over the aircraft to them with funds to finance their next expedition. Category:People Category:Interwar era characters Category:Biggles characters